Edward Norice was Minister here from 1652 to 1659.

John Higginson settled 1659, died Dec. 1708, aet. 92 yrs

Nicholas Noyes settled Nov. 14. 1683, died Dec. 13, 1717

George Curwin settled May 19. 1714 died Nov. 23. 1717

Samuel Fiske settled oct. 8. 1718 dismissed by his church ap. 18. 1735-then preached to a number that went off with him till 1743 & then was dismissed by them, died april 1771

BRAY FAMILY OF SALEM.

BY E. S. W.

Continued from vol. vii. p. 247.

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(7) IV. BENJAMIN, (14) b. Sept. 27, 1692, d. md Nov. 8, 1716-7, Hannah, d. of John & Lander,

b. abt 1694, d. Oct. 12, 1785. Her father John Lander owned the estate running from Essex to Bath Sts. next easterly of the present Babbidge estate, and having for its westerly boundary in 1765, "the late homestead of Benj. Gray," then deceased. The said Lander's land was divided into four portions, of which his dau. Hannah Bray, had the easternmost, with a frontage on Bath St. (then the common or training-field land) of 20 feet, his dau. Widow Mary Henderson in 1752, the next portion with a width of 17 feet, his dau. Jane, Spinster

in 1752, & dead in 1765, the next of the same width, and his dau. Wid. Sarah Johnson the next and most westerly portion. The first three portions came into the possession of Benj. Bray, the first as his wife's inheritance, and the two others by purchase from Jane and Mary, Nov. 9, 1752. Here probably he lived. The most westerly portion, "my mansion house & part of homestead as set off to me," was sold by Wid. Johnson Aug. 15, 1765, to John Bray, the son of Benj", who lived for the rest of his long life, in the said house, which was situated at the south west corner, and was but recently demolished, as well as the barn on Bath St. to make way for the residence and grounds of Mrs. Geo. West, his grdau. At the southeasterly cor. on Essex St. stood the apothecary's shop of the respected Dr. Benj. Webb, afterwards occupied by Mrs. Susan Brooks, and now made into a barn.

Many a passer-by thro. old Bath St. will remember the gray decayed look of the old buildings, and the damp rank growth of the field adjoining, and note almost with regret how few of these suggesters

of Salem's former life are left.

Within too the house was the abode of age, and often was the aged form of "Uncle Daniel" seen slowly making his rounds about the place. The baptisms of Benj. Bray's children are from the First Church Records.

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I find no record of the date of his death, or of adm" upon his estate. (8) V. CHRISTIANA, b. Mch. 19, 1694, d. Feb. 1784, md June 1st, 1715-6 William, son of WTM and Sarah (Flinder) Cashe, b. Feb. 13, 1693-4; est. adm upon Sept. 8, 1729. He was a master mariner and I believe owned a house and land on the W'y side of Turner near Derby St. which passed to his dau. Mary, & now forms part of the premises of the late mansion house of Judge Waters.

His inv! contained "a dw. ho. and 25 poles of land 185£,"

=

* Nov. 14, 1795, John Bray, Daniel & wife Mary, Hannah Poynton, Wid, & Sarah Driver, Wid., each one fifth, & Thomas Poynton Ives of Providence, Merchant, & Elizabeth Ives of Salem, each one tenth, sell for £42 to Benjamin Henderson, mariner, their several rights to that real estate "late of Benj. Bray, Mariner, decd," bd. N. on Browne St. 40 f. 3 in., E. by land of Daniel Bray 67 f. 7 in., S. by land of Capt. John Gardner 42 f., & W. by land of Wm Luscomb 69 f. 2 in. A descendant of Capt. H. still holds it.

"part in the Brigantine Good Intent with her boat," &c. and was taken by Timothy Orne,

Joshua Hicks,

John Crowninshield

and presented Jan. 2, 1729-30. She had two children I. William, who prob. died young, and II. Mary, b. abt 1726, d. Feb. 20, 1794, md Ap. 9, 1754, Capt. Thomas, son of Thomas & Martha (Gillingham) Dean, b. ab 1722, d. July 8, 1802, by whom she had children, several of whom were born in Barbadoes, W. I., whither she accompanied her husband, remaining during the Revolution. They owned & lived in the three-story house' in Turner St. next north of the estate, of the late Capt. Joseph Waters who ma her dau. Mary. Probably once Cashe land, and the house a gift from her mother at her marriage. She md 2dly. Jan 6, 1736-7 Capt. Clifford Crowninshield, b. in Boston, Dec. 10, 1699, d. in Salem April 4, April 4, 1776, by whom she had no children. By his will made in 1750,†

* A house of very pleasing proportions until its recent alteration.

It was witnessed by Jona., Priscilla, and John Webb, the former two of whom were dead at the time of its probate in 1776.

after bequeathing legacies to his two children by a former wife, and his dau-in-law Mary Cash, he gave all the rest of his estate to his widow, but he did not die until twenty-six years afterwards, and in the mean time accumulated much real and personal property, which of course was not covered by the will of 1750. At his death however the widow, his executrix probated the will, and took undisputed possession of all the property except the legacies mentioned.

So she enjoyed it until her death in 1784, when her will was probated in which she left it all to her dau. & her husband Capt. Thos. Dean, whom she appointed executor.

John Crowninshield the son of Clifford seems to have acquiesced in the widow's disposition of his father's property,* and probably no one of the parties imagined that there was any irregularity in the affair; but some time after his death in 1777, his son Clifford took measures to have the matter investigated, and it was

*I have heard it stated that it was bought with her money, but the evidence hardly bears out this statement. His property according to the City Tax books equalled hers at the time of marriage, and some of his real est., was bought before then.

apparent that of the property acquired after the date of the will, the widow had a right to a third share and no more, that the rest belonged to his two children by his first wife, the said John, and Mary, the wife of John Byrne.

The case was brought before the Court of Probate, which granted adm" (de bonis non) to Samuel (afterward Judge) Putnam July 9, 1792; in the words of the Court "the said Christina not having fully administered," and was finally settled by Capt. Dean's keeping the personal estate and paying therewith the debts, but deeding the real estate to the Crowninshield heirs.

The affair involved the transfer of considerable real estate in the lower part of the Town, and from various causes produced considerable local excitement at the time, there are those now living who remember it, and some hard feeling, but two at least of the descendants of the different parties were affected mutually by the decision, as the great-grandson of the one married the greatgrand-daughter of the other.

"Tempus omnia æquat.”

Mrs. C. lived with her dau. in her house in Turner St.,